The present invention is with respect to a gripping element of elastically yielding material, and to a compound gripping structure made up of such a gripping element and a cleat, which may be of conventional design, for athletic footwear, such as footwear for football and soccer.
Gripping elements for athletic footwear for playing field games such as football, soccer, Rugby football and the like have to have the effect of so stepping up the gripping properties of the sole that the player is able at all times to make full use of the force and power of his legs for suddenly speeding up, slowing down and turning his body without slipping on the ground. For such purposes, cleats or other gripping elements are used, which may be fixed to the sole permanently or so that they may be taken off and changed over as needed. Although there are many different sizes and forms of such cleats, there are, however, certain limits to the function in this respect as fixed by the rules of the game played, such limits being with respect to the length of the gripping elements and to the effect that their outer face has to be such as not to be a danger to other players. As is general knowledge, conventional designs of cleats do not give the desired degree of grip in all extreme conditions or under more than one extreme condition, as for example on completely smooth, frozen-over fields and, on the other hand, on very soft, sponge-like wet earth or even soft snow. Putting it differently, presently offered cleats are a somewhat poor compromise and in such extreme conditions are of little use and only have a second-rate gripping effect.
While it is true that for frozen playing fields "ice cleats" have been offered and used, which are made of an elastically giving material such as a generally soft quality rubber with a greater diameter than is normal for footwear cleats and with a lower toothed or square-patterned working face, such cleats have turned out to have marked shortcomings when an attempt is made at playing on very soft fields.